John healy



(No Model.)

' J. HEALY.

CHAIR.

No. 568,679. Patented Sept-Z9, .1896.

v UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOHN I IEALY, .OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 568,679, dated September 29, 1896.

Application filed May 29,1896- Serial No. 593,549. (No model.)

To (bZZ ZUh/OTH/ it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HEALY, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chairs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to chairs, and has for its object to provide an improved construction of the same that will permit a ready automatic adjustment of the seat and back to accommodate the wishes of the occupant, and will at the same time permit an additional adjustment of the back, whereby the latter may be tilted to an extreme limit without, in any way interfering with the automatic seat and back adjustment.

A further object of my invention is to provide for readily controlling the movement of the seat without employing any movable parts, thus dispensing with the necessity for any mechanical adjustments.

These objects I accomplish in the manner and by the means hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail transverse section of a portion of the seat-frame and seat. Fig. at is a transverse section of one of the rear extensions of one of the side arms and a portion of the back.

In the said drawings the reference-numeral 1 denotes the supporting-legs of a chair ex: tending for a distance above the seat and supporting the substantially horizontal chairarms 2. Mounted upon the side bars 3 of the chair, and preferably formed integral therewith, are the ways 4:. These side bars and ways preferably incline slightly downward from front to rear, as shown, and said Ways are each provided with a series of rounded ridges 5, projecting from the upper surface thereof for a purpose hereinafter to be described. The seat 6 of the chair has attached to its under side a series of antifriction-rollers 7, as

shown,.the same adapted to rest on the ways 4. If desired, ball-bearings may be employed instead of these antifriction-rollers, it only being necessary that the seat 6 be capable of an easy forward and backward movement.

The back 8 of the chair is connected at its lower end to the seat 6 by suitable hinges 9, and is supported intermediate its length by fulcrums now to be described. These fulcrums preferably consist each of a pintle 10, carrying an antifriction-roller 11 on its inner end adapted to contact with one side of the chair-back 8 and having its outer end projecting through one of a series of holes 12, formed in the rearwardly-extended end of one of the chair-arms 2, as shown. The outer end of this pintle is preferably screw-threaded to receive a thumb-screw 13, as shown. By thus providing a series of these holes 12 the pintles 10 may be shifted from one to another, thus providing a ready means for varying the inclination of the chair-back independent of the seat.

It will be readily understood that the particular means above described for shifting the positions of the said fulcrums may be varied at will, it only being necessary that the latter be adjustable. Suitable seat and back cushions may be provided for the chair.

From the above description the operation of the device will be understood to be as follows: The seat and back being in the position shown in Fig. 1, or, in other words, in its most upright position, with the rollers 7 located just behind the rearmost of the ridges 5 on the ways 4, will, when a person occupies thesame, remain in said position so long as the occupant remains in an upright position; but when the occupant desires to assume a more reclining position he may readily do so by leaning back, thus bringing the weight of his body on the chair-back above its fulcrum and thus exerting a leverage on the chair-seat sufficient to cause the rollers 7 to ride over the rearmost ridges 5 and causing the seat to move forward until said rollers come in contact with the next pair of ridges 5. This may be repeated, if desired, until the seat assumes its foremost position, which is limited by the rollers 7 coming in contact with the front bar of the chair below the seat. If the occupant desires to assume a still more reclining position, he may do so by shifting the pintles 10 in the holes 12 to give the chair-back as great an initial inclination as may be desired within the limits of adjustment in said holes. It will thus be seen that the occupant of the chair may vary at will the adjustment of the back and seat within certain prescribed limits without rising from his seat and may also vary the initial inclination of the back with out in any way alteeting or interfering with the operation of the seat in connection therewith. It will also be readily seen that the rearward pressure of the legs of the occupant exerted upon the front edge of the seat as he rises from the chair will tend to start said seat back to its rearmost position (shown in Fig. 1,) which will also be materially assisted by the rearward and downward inclination of the ways 4.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A chair provided with a seat movable forward and backward, and a back hinged to said seat and supported intermediate its length by adjustable fulcrums, substantially as described.

2. A chair provided with a seat movable forward and backward, and a back hinged to said seat and supported intermediate its length by'fulcru ms adjustable in a line sub stantially parallel with the chair-seat to vary the initial inclination of said back, substantiall y as described.

A chair provided with a seat, antifrietion-rollers intermediate said seat and the chair-frame upon which said seat is adapted to move forward and backward, and a back hinged to said seat and supported intermediate its length by adjustable fulerums, substantially as described.

4. In a chair, the combination with a seat, and a back hinged thereto at its lower end and supported by fulcrums carried by the chair-frame, of antifriction-rollers mounted beneath said seat and upon which the latter is adapted to move, ways carried by the chair-frame upon which said rollers move, and means for retarding but not completely checking the movement of the seat upon said ways, substantially as described.

5. In a chair, the combination with a seat, and a back hinged thereto at its lower end and supported by fulerums carried by the chair-frame, of ways carried by the chairframe and provided with a series of transverse ridges,and antifriction-rollers mounted intermediate said ways and the seat and adapted to ride over said ridges as the seat moves forward and backward, whereby the movement of said seat is retarded but not completely checked, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I al'fix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN lIlCATJY.

W itnesses:

WM. RICl-ITBERG, Louis Somme. 

